Apple has patched a critical zero-day vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-20700, in its operating systems after it was actively exploited in highly sophisticated targeted attacks. The memory corruption flaw in the dyld (Dynamic Link Editor) component allowed attackers with memory-write access to execute arbitrary code, potentially enabling spyware installation or privilege escalation. Discovered by Google's Threat Analysis Group, the vulnerability affected devices running iOS versions before 26, including iPhones from the iPhone 11 onward and recent iPad models. Apple described the exploitation as part of "an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals," such as journalists or activists, consistent with nation-state spyware operations. The fix was included in iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, released on February 11, 2026, along with patches for over 40 other issues, emphasizing improved state management to prevent such memory corruption. Users are urged to update their devices immediately to mitigate the risk.